A TWAIL Approach to International Space Law: Rights and the Making of Geostationary Orbit

The number of satellites launched into Earth orbit has rapidly increased over the last two decades, underscoring the urgent need to address the status of space as a prominent site for geopolitical and geostrategic contestation with inherent international legal implications. Satellites positioned in various orbits above the Earth are crucial for telecommunications, navigation, weather monitoring, Earth observation, and other applications. However, the geostationary orbit (GEO) is the only orbit considered valuable and 'prime real estate' in space. In International Space Law (ISL), GEO is a unique orbit and a limited resource.
One way to understand GEO is that it is like a belt above the equator connected to states on the equator. Most states on the equator are Global South states, and few have satellites in orbit. Only two equatorial states have GEO satellites (Brazil and Indonesia). Global North and high-income states as well as private companies from these regions, have the most satellites in GEO. Notably, when space activities began, an early concern among Global South states was that they would not share in the benefits derived from space activities and further that it would lead to neocolonialism. In particular, they were concerned that space-capable states would derive benefits from using GEO, which would be unavailable to the Global South or sold to them at a profit.